The diversification of network technology has enabled the access from a mobile phone terminal, for instance, i-mode cellphones, to the Internet. I-mode is a mobile internet service originating in Japan that is becoming a major factor in mobile internet service world-wide. The markup language used for i-mode is Compact HTML (cHTML) rather than the WML used for WAP (wireless application protocol). An i-mode mobile terminal, after being connected to a packet communication network run by a carrier, can be connected to the Internet through a gateway called an i-mode center.
In the gateway, an Internet protocol is converted to a protocol used in the packet communication network. For instance, for the i-mode center gateway, TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) and PDC (Personal Digital Cellular) protocol/TLP (Transport Protocol) are converted to each other, and HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and ALP (Application Layer Protocol) are converted to each other.
The gateway allows a website to respond to a request from a mobile phone terminal, and various services can be provided to the mobile phone terminal from a website.
Compact HTML, a subset of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), is used in a browser installed in a mobile phone terminal, for instance, an i-mode terminal,. Thus, if a website compatible with compact HTML is connected to the Internet, a server for the i-mode mobile phone terminal can be constructed.
Some browsers designed for mobile phone terminal operation do not support cookies as is done in ordinary browsers such as Internet Explorer (trademark) and Netscape Navigator (trademark) running on conventional personal computers. In these situations, a terminal ID assigned by the above gateway is used to identify a client. The terminal ID is used not only for billing purposes, but also to identify a user at the server side. For instance, a user can be identified by the terminal ID attached to a request and the service level can be optimized according to the user. In a site registered by a carrier (generally called an official site), a system is often constructed based on the premise that such terminal ID is sent.
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
As described above, servers for mobile phone terminals are often constructed based on the existence of terminal ID's. This causes the following problems.
A general-purpose Web performance tool cannot be used to measure the performance of a contents server. The general-purpose Web performance tool runs on a conventional personal computer, so access must be made from the personal computer to the server for mobile terminals. However, the access from the personal computer is not made to the server through the gateway of the carrier, but through the Internet. For example, in FIG. 1, computer 5 accesses the i-mode server 3 via the internet 1 without going through the i-mode gateway 2, whereas acceses to the server from mobile terminals 8 are made via the gateway where the terminal Ids are assigned. Thus, no terminal ID is given to a request from the computer client, and the server for mobile terminals does not accept the access because of the absence of terminal ID. Accordingly, the Web performance of the server cannot be verified using a general-purpose tool.
The method for measuring server performance includes the one in which many mobile phone terminals are used to actually access the server for mobile terminals. However, this method limits the number of mobile terminals which can simultaneously make an access. It is impossible to perform a practical bulk stress test (a test to verify whether a predetermined response can be made in the server system) if simultaneous accesses are received.
Further, no access can be made to the server for mobile terminals from a personal computer having no terminal ID. This is true not only in the measurement of system performance, but also when it is desired to receive normal service from the mobile server to requests received over the internet from personal computers.
If access can be permitted from both mobile phone terminals and personal computers, it is possible to construct a service site very convenient for users, which has both characteristics of the real time and mobility of the mobile terminal and the usability of the personal computer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for connection to a service site for mobile phone terminals from a conventional personal computer having no terminal ID.
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for enabling an effective bulk stress test for a service site for mobile phone terminals to be performed using a general-purpose Web performance tool.
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for enabling the easy construction of service sites for mobile phone terminals and ordinary personal computers.